ABSTRACT
The first effort of the United States to bring together the nations of the New World that they might talk over their common interests was made by Secretary Blaine in 1881, when the independent countries of North and South America were invited to participate in a general conference in Washington for the purpose of considering and discussing the methods of preventing war between the nations of America. But Chile and Peru were not disposed to accept this opportunity for pan-American arbitration. The Latin republics were jealous and suspicious of the United States and combined to defeat even the most harmless proposals. Practically speaking, the republics of Latin America were completely at the mercy of the United States, and, even had they been disposed to do so, they could have formed a feasible coalition with no other European power than Great Britain. The American government showed great aptitude for the science of world politics.
